Generation 2000

Foreword

It is a pleasure to work once again, after a lapse of some years, with the staff of Generation – this time, an issue propitiously entitled Generation 2000, thus signifying the end of a millennium and the start – soon – of another, in which these writers will find their eventual places.

In reading over the pieces selected for inclusion, I was happily struck by how often the here-and-now was transcended by broader, less immediate and personal, concerns.

That fact is the basis of my real focus and my pride but it is unfair not to draw attention to the sustained efforts by the staff of this year’s Generation to produce an issue that truly represents the best of the best of this time and at this school. That meant a policy of blind submission, and also one by which the staffers refrained from putting their own work forward – and to be fair, they are writers every bit as good as those represented here. Such humility is not normally a hallmark of creativity.

It’s a truism that literary works speak for themselves. It’s as obvious that they speak for their authors in doing so. But often overlooked, and most important in the end, is the way they speak for the rest of us. Welcome, then, to Generation 2000; come in and seat yourselves.

— John Ditsky

Afterword

The Late poet John Berryman once described writing as the act of a person “Alone in a room with the English language, trying to make it come out right.” “The important thing,” he added, “is that your work be something no one else could do.”

All imaginative writers strive to create work that “no one else could do.” On most occasions it is a solitary striving and involves much time spent “alone in a room.” Still, it is true that “no one has your fingerprints” and no writer is similar to any other in his/her vision or in the presentation of that vision. Therein lies the wonder of creative art.

The authors found in this edition of Generation have presented a wide variety of original offerings. I believe that writers, essentially, “write letters to the world” and the world should be glad to receive such letters. As contributors to this year’s Generation the current authors are part of a very long literary tradition. Generation has existed for more than thirty years and is one of the country’s oldest student publications.

These hopeful authors are much deserving of recognition and praise. We should all be appreciative of the time and effort they have devoted to what Geoffrey Chaucer, in another time and place, referred to as “the craft so longe to lerne.” Well Done.

— Alistair MacLeod

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General Editor: Lena Mangoff

Editorial Board/Copy Editing:
Patrick Bazinet
Jamie Gegeny
Dave McLean
Joshua A. Reid
Clare Tattersall
Stephanie Wood
Mel Woods
Babs Wright

Art Director: Clare Tattersall

Data Entry:
Patrick Bazinet
Dave McLean

Layout and Design:
Jamie Gegeny
Dave McLean
Joshua A. Reid
Clare Tattersall
Stephanie Wood
Mel Woods
Babs Wright

Faculty Advisor: Dr. John Ditsky

Managing Editor: Edith Newell-Beattie

Art Work:
Yeqiang Wang
Jennifer Weiler

Front and Back Cover: Yeqiang Wang

Interior Pages: Jennifer Weiler

Featuring work by:

• Victoria Abboud
• Douglas Bedard
• Rachel Blok
• Kevin Buchanan
• Eileen Courtenay
• Danielle Couture
• Ryan J. Cox
• Rachel Eagen
• dani harris
• Adam Hawkes
• Carrie Hojnoski
• Marnie Lamb
• John Wing Jr.
• Lindsay McNiff
• Ryan Moore
• Lee Ellen Pottie
• Jake Redekop
• Joe Restoule
• Heather Seanor
• Tina Siegel
• Bill Snowden
• Jonathon Stroud
• Jennifer Weiler